After designating Akinori Iwamura for assignment last week Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said “a small number of teams have expressed mild interest” in trading for him, but Iwamura and the $2.9 million remaining on his contract passed through waivers unclaimed yesterday.
Various reports suggest that the Pirates were willing to eat the rest of Iwamura’s contract, but ultimately couldn’t find a team interested in giving up anything for him. Apparently the “mild interest” was very mild.
Iwamura is now off the 40-man roster, but accepted an assignment to Triple-A because not doing so would have meant forfeiting the rest of his guaranteed salary. While in Indianapolis the 31-year-old infielder will try to recoup some of the value lost by hitting .182 and looking slow defensively, but he’s probably facing an uphill climb to make it back to the majors.